Dedication of Alligator Juniper in Memory of the Granite Mountain Hotshots

Monday, 30 September, 2013 | Starts at 10:30 AM

Prescott College invites the community to the dedication of an alligator juniper tree in memory of the 19 fallen Granite Mountain Hotshots Monday, September 30, starting at 10:30 a.m. on campus in the Crossroads Center Community Room. Special guests include Prescott Fire Chief Dan Fraijo and Carmen Whitted Alvey, former College staff member and sister to fallen hotshot Clayton Whitted.

The Granite Mountain Hotshots were heroes to their friends and family long before battling the Doce and Yarnell Hill Fires made them so to the rest of us. What many may not know is that Prescott College housed and provided food services to members of many of the 19 families who came to participate in the memorial services in July, as well as the entire incident command, other hotshots from around the country, and several members of the honor guard. For obvious reasons, their presence was not made public, which provided quiet space off the beaten path, yet still central to the City, for families to be together and first responders to decompress without additional attention. The few staff and faculty who interacted with the families, mostly driving them to and from services, were moved to do something special to memorialize the Granite Mountain Hotshots.

“After some discussion, the College has decided that an appropriate memorial would be to plant an alligator juniper tree in their memory,” says President Kristin R. Woolever. “We are trying to do our small part to assure that the Granite Mountain Hotshots live on as heroes in our memory.”

The Prescott hotshot team saved a nearly 1,000-year old alligator juniper tree—co-record holder for the largest of its kind in the country—during their assignment to the Doce Fire just prior to their work on the Yarnell Hill Fire. On the three-month anniversary of the tragedy that claimed all but one of this brave team, Prescott College will dedicate a young alligator juniper tree in its campus commons that will grow and flourish in their honor for generations to come. Refreshments will follow a brief dedication at the tree site. Guests are asked to park in the lots at the corner of Grove and Western Avenues.